Archive for the 'Taylor Hawkins' Tag Under 'Soundcheck' Category

"I always knew I had a high voice," Jon Davison modestly admits. "It feels natural to me. It's not something I have to force or strain to accomplish."

That much would have to be a given considering what the O.C. musician is doing these days: replacing another Jon known for a skyscraping range, the diminutive Mr. Anderson, who has been estranged from pioneering prog-rock band Yes for nearly a decade.

Lifelong fans like Davison can be quick with superlatives when it comes to the distinctive melodies Jon Anderson created in enduring staples like "Long Distance Runaround" and "I've Seen All Good People." Most Yes songs, built on bedrocks from founding bassist Chris Squire and guitarist Steve Howe, find him soaring to heights well out of reach of most humans.

Yet Davison can nail even the wildest notes. As he proved in March when Yes played three classic albums in full at L.A.'s Orpheum Theatre (they do so again July 10 at City National Grove of Anaheim), his ability to near-perfectly recapture both the tone and spirit of the original recordings is stunning, and superior to the singing of the band's previous Anderson fill-in, Benoit David.

Hearts raced. Goosebumps formed. The crowd screamed. All in anticipation of a cover band.

"It's kinda like that radio station that you turn on when you hate every new song on the radio. That's Chevy Metal," Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl explained, after making a guest appearance Saturday alongside Foo anchor Taylor Hawkins in the drummer's side project.

Chevy Metal tore it up before an intimate crowd during the second of three nights of Costa Mesa's 60th anniversary celebration and outdoor music festival at the OC Fair & Event Center. Legends, like Eric Burdon of the Animals (above) and rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson, also took over the main stage during the weekend, capping off lineups filled with roots rock from local acts like Tomorrow's Tulips and Tijuana Panthers.

Saturday's covers band also included Mick Murphy on guitar and longtime Foo Fighters roadie and photographer Wiley Hodgden on bass and lead vocals, a former Costa Mesa resident, who formed the group with Hawkins. But it was hard for Grohl not to stand out.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame returned to Los Angeles to induct its class of 2013 Thursday night, just the second time in 28 years that the institution has held this noisy, joyful, heartfelt celebration of artists past and present in the city from which so much of the world's most popular music comes.

It was an overdue return to the city, and in many ways the entire ceremony seemed all about making right many overdue slights, considering how many inductees this time could have, and should have, gone in years earlier.

There was Randy Newman, the literate singer-songwriter who reminded that you don't have to look or sound like a typical pop star to create works of great merit. And Heart, who back in the '70s proved girls can rock every bit as hard as guys. And Donna Summer, the disco diva, whose career illustrated how dance music can move not just your feet but your heart as well.

It was obvious that several of this year's inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame would perform at the ceremony, held in Los Angeles for only the second time in 28 years, April 18 at Nokia Theatre.

Indeed, the four of six legendary acts who are still with us will play: Randy Newman, Heart, Rush and Public Enemy. (Fellow honorees Albert King and Donna Summer died in 1992 and 2012, respectively.)

What's only now falling into place is the array of performers and presenters who will be on hand at the gala.

Even in a region as accustomed to star-studded events as Southern California, it has been an extraordinary time for rare occurrences lately. Elton John and Sarah McLachlan played Disney California Adventure. The original Blasters reunited in Santa Ana. The Who played Quadrophenia for the first time in 16 years. Ben Folds Five got back together after a decade-plus apart and packed the Mouse House.

All of it was stunning to varying degrees. Yet none of it compares to what Dave Grohl put together at the Hollywood Palladium Thursday night.

To add something extra to the L.A. premiere earlier that evening of his directorial debut Sound City, a loving and ear-opening elegy to the renowned Van Nuys studio that also serves as a fantastic encapsulation of ’70s-’90s rock history, Grohl amassed many of the key figures from the film (dubbed the Sound City Players) for a nearly nonstop 3½-hour release party.

On hand, often with Foo Fighters backing them, were several artists who cut their teeth or laid down classics at the dumpy sonic wonderland. There were punk vets (Fear’s Lee Ving) alongside cult heroes (Masters of Reality’s Chris Goss), outright legends (John Fogerty) following new-era icons (Slipknot’s Corey Taylor). Plus two talents for whom Sound City was crucial: Rick Springfield, who owes his career to the place, and Stevie Nicks, who languished there alongside then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham until luck brought the rest of Fleetwood Mac into the studio to blaze new trails with its self-titled 1975 disc and the monumental Rumours.